Field of the Invention (IPC A47337/08)
The present invention relates to non-electric devices for toasting bread, sandwiches and bagels on cooktops of various types including gas, electric and others.
Description of the Related Art
The related art discussion below is based on the following filings:
Ref.NumberDateInventorTitle1U.S. Pat. No. 904,382 A1908 Nov. 17HORACE S. VAN PATTENCooking utensil2U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,648 A1968 Jul. 30Joseph R. KringPortable Broiler3U.S. Pat. No. 2,526,437 A1950 Oct. 17John Themascus, Sr.Toaster4U.S. Pat. No. 1,202,059 A1916 Oct. 24HERMAN M. GREENERBread-toaster5GB 10455 A1912 Apr. 25John Maurice BrockImprovements in Toasters6U.S. Pat. No. 712,340 A1902 Oct. 28William H SilverToaster
Of the above-mentioned devices, 1 & 2 are the only ones that employ perpendicular action, or rather placement of the food to be cooked at a 90° angle relative to the plain of the heat source beneath (and therefore cooking both sides simultaneously). However, 1 & 2 are substantially broilers used for many types of foods (especially meats) and they are not purpose built for toasting bread. These devices substantially rely on ascending hot air (convection) directed onto opposite sides in order to cook, but not toast, the food. As such they are very unlike an electric toaster in which a resistance element casts diffuse infrared radiation (IR) directly onto a bread slice. With devices 1 & 2, toasting bread will be very unsatisfactory.
Furthermore, these devices employ separated layers of metal below the perpendicularly placed food items. However these layers are meant to both direct the hot air to opposite sides for broiling of food as well as to catch the food's runoff, such as juice and fat, and to channel that runoff away from the device. The metal layers above the bottom most one are not intended to protect nor do they protect the food from burning. In addition, the choice of metal for the composition of these devices is based entirely on criteria such as workability, cost and weight. The IR reflectivity of the metal is ignored and irrelevant to their purpose. Finally, these devices lack the greatly variable width and maneuverability in their internal spaces to accommodate most, if any, sandwiches or other thick food items like bagels.
Devices 3 through 6 are indeed purpose built stovetop bread toasters but they lack the basic principle of perpendicular action and therefore one must flip the bread to toast both sides, while one side is always exposed to cooling from the open air. Furthermore their fundamental designs and materials (metal choice) are not based on efficiently creating and/or directing IR onto the surface of the bread, which is a critical function of a toaster. In addition, none of the cited devices can effectively toast a sandwich, not only because the sandwich would fall off the narrow ledge intended for a slice but more importantly because the constant open air exposure of the out facing side would not permit necessary “oven warming” of the insides of the sandwich.
None of the above prior inventions (1 through 6) employ materials or mechanisms for generating and boosting diffuse IR in the plane that constitutes the base of the device, e.g. in the plane where the device rests upon the cooktop.